Skinner’s Brewery launches beer tasting kit

Skinner’s Brewery has launched a beer tasting kit — an accessible yet educational pack to facilitate an evening of beer tasting, helping beer lovers discover more about what goes into great ales.

Skinner’s has been running beer tasting events at its CAMRA Kernow pub of the year, The Old Ale House, in Truro, for the past eight years. These events provide in-depth classes on how Skinner’s beers are made, what characteristics to look for the in the different styles of ale, unlocking the smells and flavours of the ingredients and in-depth look into each beer’s origin, history, uniqueness, special ingredients, brewing processes, and storage and serving, among other things.

Brewery founder, Steve Skinner, said: “Our beer tastings sessions in The Old Ale House have been really popular and we’ve seen many a happy punter walk — and sometimes stumble — out these doors with more knowledge and understanding of what makes a great beer.

“We thought we could make this experience available to a wider audience and help beer lovers everywhere hold fun events where they can discover more about the beer they drink.”

The beer tasting kit provides a fun way for friends and family to get together and create their own beer academy at home. The kit includes: an extensive handbook including detailed beer notes and food pairing suggestions; tasting note cards for each participant; an aroma wheel poster and six jars of different beer ingredients to spark the senses.

The most valuable piece of kit is The Beer Trainer guide, with tips on how best to host your beer tasting evening, but also a resource for those who are wannabe beer nerds. With information on what beer is made of, the different production processes and differences in taste, as well as a quiz to test users on their new beer knowledge, the kit can also be used by the beer trade.

The original kit was planned as a training pack for bars and pubs that serve Skinner’s beers. It then blossomed into a universal kit for everyone, including consumers and pubs, who can use the kit to hold their own beer tasting events, and also have an accessible way to educate employees.

At £19.99, the kit will be available from Skinner’s website from September.